Methane power producers look to wind

The operator of a New South Wales bioreactor is now looking to include a wind farm on the site near Goulburn.

The old Woodlawn mine at Tarago was shut down in 1998 leaving workers owed $6.5 million in entitlements.

In 2004, the area was turned into a landfill site after a deal was brokered between the NSW Government and the workers.

Up to 400,000 tonnes of bio-degradable waste is now dumped at the site each year.

Site owner Veolia is turning the waste into energy by tapping the methane it produces. The bioreactor will eventually produce enough energy to power 20,000 homes.

Veolia is now planning to build a wind farm on the site with 125 turbines to be built within the next two to three years.

Clean Up Australia founder Ian Kiernan says the site is a fantastic example of modern waste management which is helping to reduce climate change.

"What is happening here is the waste is being transformed into energy and into recyclable products," he said.

He says the old mine site was a major environmental concern before it was developed.

"We worried for a long long time of what was going to happen here at Woodlawn before the facility as put in here you had old tailings dams, you had major environmental problems and now we are seeing the solutions to those problems as well as a great example of proper waste management and resource recovery," he said.

Mr Kiernan says governments also needs to do more to address waste management.

"There needs to be reform in waste management, we need extended producer responsibility. I mean electronic waste is going to landfill at a terrible, terrible rate and what needs to be legislated is for the producer, the manufacturer, the seller of electronic waste to have responsibility for the recovery and the recycling of it," he said.

Extra rubbish

Veolia wants to triple the amount of rubbish it receives from 400,000 tonnes a year to 1.2 million tonnes.

Member for Goulburn Pru Goward supports the proposal.

She says the project is not commercially viable unless the NSW Government allows the site to take more waste.

But the NSW Government has previously told Veolia it must eventually reduce the amount of rubbish it receives rather than increase it. That is in line with the Government's overall waste avoidance strategy which looks at ways to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

"It's very disappointing to see that the Government isn't behind the biggest bioreactor in Australia and a real breakthrough in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions," Ms Goward said.